Velvet cage
by The secret author
Summary: There are two new faces at fairy tail, and Ora and Naomi are ready for anything. Naomi is welcomed into the guild by fellow dragon slayers, but she carries a dire warning about an approaching special season for them. Meanwhile, Ora does not receive the expected reception from an old friend. Why isn't Gray happy to see her? *Rated M for later chapters.*
1. Chapter 1

"This shouldn't be taking so damn long" a dark haired wizard hissed at her silver haired friend.

"Shush Naomi"

"But..."

"Shush!" Came the vicious reply, which succeeded in quieting Naomi, allowing both women to focus on the magic council members spoke amongst themselves in the corner.

A small growl escaped Naomi's throat. If this stupid meeting didn't mean so much to her childhood friend Ora, there was no way she would've put up with these old bastards. They had far too much power, and liked to lord it over people's heads. Even now, they had been whispering in hushed tones, and throwing the women occasional glances, for well past an hour over a very simple request. Glancing at her friend, Naomi couldn't help but frown _' poor Ora.' _She thought _' she's jumped through so many hoops for these geezers, and sacrificed so much, all to join a simple magic guild.'_

Ora pushed a lock of hair out of her face, completely ignoring her friend's concerned gaze. She was well aware that Naomi was only involved in this because of Naomi had made a promise long ago to her, yet Naomi still didn't care much about the outcome. But to Ora, there was nothing more important. For years she had been kept out of guilds, particularly the one she most wanted to join, because the council feared what her powers in the wrong hands could mean for Fiore. A clearing throat drew the girl's eyes as the council formed a circle around them.

"The magical council has come to a decision on the matter at hand. Ora, Naomi, are you prepared to receive judgment?"

"Yes, sir" came the duel reply

"Very well. Ora Allsaven and Naomi Elema, in light of the recent changes to Ora's that allow her to control it better, and both of your results at the trail fights, we have decided to accept your request to be allowed to join a magic guild."

Outwardly, Ora remained unwavering, but on the inside she felt her heart skip a beat. Her only dream, all that she had worked so hard to achieve, had just become true. Her sacrifice was not in vain. She looked at Naomi, who gave her an encouraging smile, showing her support. Ora took a deep calming breathe before addressing the council with her head held high.

"Thank you, everyone, for your generous allowance. Our gratitude reaches the stars, and we are both unable to truly express our happiness." She said dropping into a deep bow, which Naomi followed to do. Naomi gave a small smirk, which went unnoticed _' hell of a speech princess. Guess that's what you get when you're royalty.'_

"Take this." One of the council members said as a scroll appeared in Ora's outstretched hand "This scroll is our official ruling, and will allow a guild master to officially mark you both. It allows them to know we sanctioned this." With another bow, both beautiful wizards turned to leave, only to be halted by the council's parting words.

"I hope that both of you will truly think about the path you are determined to follow. Since you came to Fiore, you have been allowed total control over your lives with no interference from the guilds, or those of us on the magical council. Should you go through with this, and actually join a guild, that will no longer be the case. It will become our duty to monitor and ensure that you do not receive special treatment. You will answer to your guild master, and I would hate for you to join, only to find that it is not the life you thought it was. I hope you have given this decision a lot of thought."

Naomi paused, casting her gaze on her friend who had gone completely still, her back to the council. While joining a guild had never been high on her priorities, she knew how desperately her friend yearned for the guild life. But that was pretty typical of the two friends. Naomi was the loner, happy to wander alone with just her thoughts, having been raised alone, while Ora had been locked away from the world now sought to be with others. Ora refused to let the council see the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. How many times had she been told she didn't know what she was doing? She could hear the voices ringing in her head as loud as shouts.

_'A guild is not the place for you princess Ora...'_

_'If someone were to find out all you could do...'_

_'You're not meant to be around those people Ora... You're just too different...'_

_'There is no guild that will fix you Ora!'_

Without turning or responding to the council man's words, Ora began to stiffly walk out of the room, a silent Naomi on her heels. Though the council likely didn't hear the petite woman's response, Naomi's keen sense of hearing heard the girl's dark words. "If they really think that I haven't spent my whole life thinking about this day? My freedom from my curse came at a bigger cost than any of those old fools will EVER understand. I will not be deterred from my course. Are you with me Naomi?"

"Without a doubt Ora"

**And then...**

The walk from the council building was a short one, in which the two spent in comfortable silence. Once out of the building, Ora was able to regain her calm and her spirits had quickly lifted, which allowed Naomi to relax as well. With their meager belongings in tow, both girls boarded a train and found an empty compartment. Once they were settled, the felt the train begin to move, Naomi glanced at her companion curiously.

"I don't believe I've ever seen you walk out on the council before." She said, a small smirk on her face.

Ora returned the smirk with a mischievous smile of her own "well they had no right to speak to me like that."

Naomi leaned her head on her hand and continued to study her friend "I noticed you made no mention of exactly which guild you intend to join."

"So it slipped my mind" at her friend's unconvinced look, Ora's grin grew wider "Ok, so I did it on purpose. But I knew they would never approve our request if they knew we were going to join the infamous Fairy Tail!"

The friends shared mischievous grins, Ora because of her excitement and Naomi because Ora's happiness was always infectious. _'I hope you're ready for us'_ Naomi thought as she turned to stare out the window at the passing towns _' cause ready or not, here we come!'_


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors note: I do not own Fairy Tail! (So sad about that!) But I do own Ora and Naomi. **

**Sorry for the late update, but this chapter just did not want to work with me -_-**

**I welcome any reviews or constructive criticism. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>It was a pretty normal morning at Fairy Tail; naturally meaning utter chaos reigned. The noise level was deafening, ranging from greetings being thrown out to full out brawls breaking out. It was in this environment that Lucy sat beside Erza, watching as her partner, Natsu, argued with Gray. The smile that was on her face was something that couldn't be stopped as Erza broke up the fight before it could even start. As the two males sat on either side of her, she gave them both a sympathetic look.<p>

"Is it just me, or does it feel like something big is about to happen?" Lucy asked, looking around the guild and feeling an energized vibe.

"Maybe that means a big fish is gonna fall on the guild." Happy said, drool falling down his chin.

"Shut it cat."

"Maybe it means a big job with a big reward!" Natsu said, giving a toothy grin to Lucy "You'd actually be able to pay rent this month Luce"

The glare she sent his way fell from her face when she noticed that Natsu's shocked gaze was trained on the door. The whole guild seemed to have come to a standstill, even Makarov's astonished gaze was locked on the door. When Lucy turned to look she was shocked to see two women she had never seen before. The first woman, the taller of the two, was a fierce looking girl with dark hair streaked with purple. With a tight, dark pair of pants which she kept tucked into simple boots, and a white tank top, she looked rather severe. Yet her expression, as she stood slightly in front of her companion, was one of protectiveness. This was someone well used to fighting for her friends. Lucy could almost feel the magical energy spark and crackle around the woman.

The other woman, although far more friendly looking, was the one who truly commanded attention. A smile that could blind the world played across her face, yet her eyes were covered by a mask that completely obscured them. Clothed in a flowing golden top and a short swirling skirt, looking as light as air. As she looked around the guild, her smile seemed to grow even wider, and much like her somber friend, magic seemed to cloak her. But unlike the other woman this silver haired mage's magic seemed…wrong. Lucy couldn't place her finger on what was off, but it almost felt like there was a hole in the girl's magical aurora.

"Ora…?"

Lucy's stunned gaze shot to Gray as the ice mage hissed the name. An array of emotions seemed to pass across his face as he watched the two women. Finally it seemed to settle on irritation. "You know one of them?"

"We all know Ora, the one with silver hair." Erza replied "And I'm going to assume the other one is her partner and close friend, Naomi Elema. They're both powerful wizards."

Those softly spoken words seemed to break the trance the guild was under, for a loud roar of greetings went up. Everyone called out to the women as they walked through the hall, coming to a stop only when they stood side by side before the guild's leader, Makarov. Ora swept into a deep bow while Naomi gave a much smaller one.

"Master Makarov, please excuse our unannounced intrusion." Ora's voice rang out, loud enough to be heard throughout the hall "I hope you're doing well"

"I certainly am Ora, It's been a very long time since you've dropped by"

"Unfortunately, our travels took us far away for a very, very long time." She said turning to Naomi, and wrapped an arm around Naomi, who smiled indulgently "But where are my manners, I don't believe you've been introduced to my friend Naomi Elema, the elemental dragon slayer."

Lucy's wide eyed gaze went directly to her partner. Already Natsu had the same look he got before a big fight and she knew it was only a matter of time before he challenged the newest dragon slayer. "Hold on" Lucy whispered to Erza "Isn't that the same thing as Natsu?"

"It's a bit more complex than that." Naomi replied, getting a squeak from the surprised celestial mage "While your fire dragon slayer would certainly fall into the category of elemental, I am a different story. I control all four of the basic elements."

"All right! You're going to make an awesome opponent! I'm all fired up for this battle!" Natsu shouted, jumping up and rushing toward the unwavering Naomi. He only stopped when Makarov's booming voice rang out.

"Don't even think about it Natsu! Both of them are protected by the magic council. You could be arrested merely for threatening them." The guild master scolded "Naomi, I hope you'll forgive him, he's still just an idiot boy."

"Yes, well" She replied, curiously watching the young slayer _'he's very temperamental, but there's a ridiculous amount of energy' _she thought before shaking her head to clear her thoughts "I don't believe I've ever heard of a guild with three dragon slayers. But I can only sense two of them right now."

"Well, our youngest slayer Wendy is with Carla at the dorms, but I'm not sure where Gajeel is."

"Oh that's easy, he's up in the rafters over there." Naomi said, tilting her head to where the iron dragon slayer was sitting away from everyone.

Ora had to laugh softly at the surprised look Makarov gave Naomi. Having lived with the hyper sensitive dragon slayer for most of their lives, she was well used to the things that only Naomi could sense. That talent had saved their asses on multiple occasions, but could be a bit unnerving to experience for the first time. Stepping closer to Makarov, Ora produced the council scroll and handed it to him "Perhaps it's time for us to make our intentions clear. So, Master Makarov, will you accept Naomi and I into the Fairy Tail guild?"

The atmosphere took on a heavy pause while a sad expression came to Makarov's face "Ora, you know there is nothing I would like to do more, but that's just not possible."

Lucy looked at her teammates, whose expressions mirrored Makarov's "What…Why can't they join?"

"Because the magic council refuses to allow them to join any guild" Although the question had been posed to Erza, it was Gray who answered Lucy. "They've always felt that it would be far too tempting for any guild master to use Ora and Naomi's magic for dark purposes."

"Makarov, read the scroll before answering." Ora said.

Silently, Makarov began to read over the scroll Ora had handed him. When he came to the end, his face had gone completely blank and he suddenly pitched over. Had it not been for Naomi and Ora rushing to catch him, he would've fallen to the floor. Erza got to her feet and rushed over as the two set Makarov back on the bar top "Master?"

"Its fine Erza, I'm fine." Makarov cast a questioning gaze to the two wizard's  
>"This is certainly something I never imagined I would ever be holding in my hands. So I'm going to ask the obvious, what changed to make them sign this?"<p>

Ora smiled brightly once more as she reached behind her head and undid the mask. A panic look came to Gray, Makarov, and Mirajane faces, while Naomi merely crossed her arms and waited. When the ribbon came undone, Ora pulled the mask from her face, exposing beautiful blue eyes that danced with happiness. After a few moments of no one moving, a burst of energy surged through the hall as everyone seemed to rush forward.

"Mira! Grab the stamp and pass around a round of drinks! Everyone, welcome the two newest members to Fairy Tail!"

The rowdiness of the guild returned in full force as drink began to be passed around. Makarov took the stamp and pressed it to the center of Ora's chest, creating an illusion of a necklace with the purple Fairy Tail mark. Naomi received the same mark in the center of her shoulders. The two women beamed as they were embraced by their new guild mates.

Team Natsu remained at their table, but watched happily as the party began in full. Well, everyone that is, except one. While Natsu and Erza may be oblivious to the frown that marred Gray's face, Lucy had taken notice. Before Ora had revealed her eyes, he seemed uncomfortable, but now he seemed down right pissed. When Ora made her way to the table, chatting with Natsu and Erza, Gray tensed even more and crossed his arms. His dark gaze remained on the woman who seemed determined to ignore him.

"You're Lucy, right?" Looking away from Gray, Lucy met Ora's warm gaze.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"That's one part of my abilities that didn't leave me" Ora said, sitting across from Lucy.

"What…?"

"Lucy, Ora is an Oracle." Erza said "Normally they can see everything about anyone they look at. Past, present, future, everything. It's the main reason the council didn't want any guild to have Ora."

"But don't worry" Ora cut in "I can only see people's names now."

"Interesting that you left after the incident and came back able to see." Gray shot at her as Natsu was pulled into a fight with Elfman.

"I would've thought you of all people would have been happy about it." Ora replied without looking at Gray, which only seemed to rile him up more.

"I suppose I would be, if I knew how you managed the impossible."

"Why does it matter how I did it?" Ora hissed back, and for the first time Lucy saw Ora's smile slip as she glared at Gray. When she saw Lucy watching them, the smile was quickly replaced "So Lucy, you, Natsu, Gray, and Erza are a team?"

"We are, and until you and Naomi get used to taking jobs, I insist you stick with us." Erza stated, remaining oblivious to the tension and giving no room for arguing.

With a small sneer to Gray, Ora smiled at Erza "Thank you Erza that would be wonderful, since we've never taken jobs before." Ora stood then, calling out to Naomi, who was instantly by her side "I think it's time we left and found somewhere to stay."

As the two women said their goodbyes to everyone, Gray continued to watch Ora with a dark look. Something had happened between the two, and Lucy made a note to ask about it. By the time the two had disappeared from view, Lucy turned to question Gray, only to see that he too had vanished. Sighing with defeat, Lucy could only shake her head_ 'No one could ever accuse Fairy Tail of being boring.'_


End file.
